


Impressive, Truly

by debwalsh



Series: Deb’s Fictober Surprise! [20]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 21:37:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16416422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debwalsh/pseuds/debwalsh
Summary: Steve’s a New York bike courier and he flags somebody is following him.  Who and why?  He’s determined to find out.





	Impressive, Truly

**Author's Note:**

> I should just give up and let the boys take over. This wasn’t what I meant to write ... it’s what they made me write!

He’d been tracking him the past ninety minutes - seven stops, three pick-ups, four deliveries, not counting the ones still in his courier bag or on his route. He had five more drops to make, at least another pickup - there was always at least one that tried to slip an extra into the pile - then he could call it a day.

So what did this dude want?

The courier company specialized in sensitive documents, so there was nothing unusual in that. Everything he carried was important to someone, everything had potential to be equally important to a competitor or adversary.  

He wasn’t a fellow courier - he could ride, but he didn’t have the give-no-fucks grace of a true pro. But he definitely had some nice lines, and he could handle the bike. Maybe competitive? A weekend warrior who hit the trails during downtime from his downtown job? Whatever, he was keeping up, didn’t even look winded. Not that Steve could see much, with the guy wearing a helmet, goggles, and his hipster scarf pulled up over his mouth. Which, yeah, gave him away as not being a pro.  

But Steve was betting he didn’t know the city, the ins,, the outs, the covered walkways, or the half-alleys the way he did. The way he had to to do this job day in and day out.

He grinned ferally to himself, the glint in his eyes masked by his goggles, but no one would have missed that predatory smile. Without warning, he put on speed, shot past a line of jostling cabs on their left, and took off down the straightaway until he suddenly veered left to bounce down the brick walkway between two buildings. He continued to bob and weave between buildings, then shot back out onto the main drag again, working his way in between cars, buses, delivery vans, always conscious that that guy was still on his tail.

There was no doubt that it was deliberate now. The guy was after something. But what?

He brought up the city map in his imagination, looking for a place where he could waylay the dude and get some answers. Yes, he had deliveries to make, and a schedule to keep. But this guy was like an itch he couldn’t scratch, and he either needed to lose him, or find out once and for all just what he wanted.

Shit, he was on Seventh. Once of his deliveries was just up ahead. He couldn’t not make it, so he headed toward the building, planning to haul his bike up the elevator so he didn’t have to tether it anywhere. He was a regular in the building, so he knew he could get away with it.

Delivery done, he came back out onto the sidewalk and scanned the ever present crowds. Ah, there, over by the standpipe across the street and two buildings down. Dude was on high alert, and yep, he’d tagged him. Okay, fella, let’s see what you’re made of.

Steve leapt onto his bike and took off, sure that the guy had caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. Sure enough, in a moment he could see it in his rear view - the other bike pulled into formation behind him.

The cat and mouse game continued for another forty minutes while Steve finished his deliveries, picked up that last package, dropped that off, and still the guy was shadowing him. But by now, Steve had tacked through the city so that he was close to the place he knew he could end this.

Throughout the city, there were dead ends and cul de sacs, gates that opened onto tiny paved spaces with no exit, tiny gardens with roses climbing up the walls of high-rises, compact parks in the shadows of great buildings, and all manner of magical, unexpected spaces.

He picked up speed, rocketing through traffic until he was in sight of one of those elfin hideaways, and he abruptly shot across the flow to disappear into a shadowed space between.

It was a dead end space, but it was beautiful in its own way. Barely wider than a sidewalk, bold murals climbed up the walls of the opposing buildings. Someone had erected a miniature gazebo in the middle, complete with a seat, and a Little Red Library right beside. Steve quelled the urge to check the library for new offerings, making a mental note to contribute a book next time around.

Then he hid himself and the bike behind the gate, in the shadowed space out of sight, practically holding his breath as he waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. The guy rolled his bike in cautiously, peering left and right, but Steve still couldn’t get a read on him with those goggles and scarf. He was enjoying the view, though, as the guy stalked the narrow space, the fabric of his skinny black jeans hugging his fine ass and long legs just right.

And, huh, they looked familiar ...

But the guy seemed to be becoming more frustrated when he didn’t catch sight of Steve. He started to move with more agitation when he realized there was no exit except for the way he’d come in. He half-turned, but Steve had already stepped out of the shadows and nudged the gate closed, and moved to stand in front of it.

No exit, for sure. Only way was through him.

“Impressive, truly,” he announced to the guy, and was gratified when he wheeled around, scarf falling away to reveal his mouth open in shock.

“Shit.”

It was Steve’s turn to be shocked. There was a reason he recognized that ass.

“Bucky?”

The guy - Bucky - whipped off his goggles, revealing the face of someone Steve didn’t think he’d ever see again. Bucky Barnes, his ex. Truth be told, his one and only, but at the clench of his heart, he wasn’t about to tell him that. Not now, at least. 

“Steve? Oh, fuck. Of course, it would have to be you.”

Well, that wasn’t the reaction Steve would’ve expected. Like, ever. His lips flattened as he expelled air out his nose. Steve solidified his stance in front of the gate. There was no getting through him without a fight, and he’d always been able to take Bucky. He wasn’t emotionally compromised. He was determined.

“Yeah, it’s me. But why are you following me? And where the fuck have you been the last two years?”

The stricken look on Bucky’s face told him that he wasn’t going to like the answer. But damn it, he was going to get it. Bucky’d left him in ruins when he’d disappeared two years ago. He had a right to know, and neither of them were leaving this space until he did.

END

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a meet-cute, where the boys didn’t know each other. Instead, it’s a mystery, and there will be more to come.


End file.
